Telecom regulator Trai has been urged by Reliance Jio to draft a revised paper on spectrum distribution for satellite communication, claiming that it fails to address the crucial issue of guaranteeing parity between satellite and terrestrial services.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman, Anil Kumar Lahoti, received a letter from Reliance Jio requesting that the consultation document on suggested rules for “terms and conditions for the assignment of spectrum for certain satellite-based commercial communication services” needed to be revised.
Why Does Reliance Jio Want to Revise the Paper?
The crucial problem of guaranteeing fairness between satellite-based and terrestrial access providers has been entirely disregarded in the consultation paper, which astonished us. In a letter dated October 4, Reliance Jio (RJIL) stated that this omission has led to the absence of any queries addressing the necessity of establishing a level playing field amongst these providers. According to Jio, if this element is left out, stakeholders won’t be able to give Trai enough thought and relevant input, which will compromise the suggestions’ fairness and the government’s goal of encouraging balanced competition.
Trai launched a consultation process on September 27, 2024, to investigate the process and cost of allocating spectrum to satellite firms for the provision of broadband, messaging, telephony, and other services throughout the nation. In India, satellite-based internet services from firms like Jio Satellite Communications, OneWeb, which is sponsored by the Bharti Group, and Starlink, which is owned by Elon Musk, will be made possible by the decision on spectrum pricing and allocation methods.
Jio and Vodafone Idea Have Opposed the Allocation
Jio and Vodafone Idea have protested the distribution of spectrum to satellite firms without conducting any official auction for the same. Jio claimed that the paper’s bias towards administrative spectrum assignment violates the Telecommunications Act of 2023’s standards.
According to the Telecommunication Act of 2023, auctions are the primary means of allocating spectrum for commercial services. To address the level-playing field difficulties between satellite and terrestrial networks, the company kindly requests that Trai rethink and update the consultation document with targeted questions. According to Jio, stakeholders should continue to have a say in both the auction and administrative assignment processes, with careful attention paid to competitive fairness.
A system for calculating spectrum charges, frequency ranges for satellite communications services, assignment length, and provisions for surrendering spectrum are among the 21 items on which Trai has requested feedback. According to the regulator, the deadline for comments on the paper is October 18, and the deadline for counter comments is October 25.
For a long time now, Reliance Industries has been one of the major Indian conglomerates that has caused a stir. This ideal corporate realm, founded by Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, also known as Dhirubhai, a global business titan and visionary, has gone a long way since its beginnings. The narratives of Dhirubhai and Reliance are intricately intertwined. Since its inception, Reliance has made tremendous strides. It was originally fiber. Jio Fibre is the product of its current self-sufficiency. In its digital network, you can’t see every fiber. The network or fabric that Mukesh Ambani, Dhirubhai’s son, is weaving contains wireless fiber, though.
Fabric was the next step after Dhirubhai worked with yarn. The hit single “Only Vimal” by Reliance was the one that got everyone talking. Dhirubhai was perceptive about the requirements of both India and Reliance. In a whirlwind of activity, he embarked on a journey of reverse integration. He required fiber for his yarn.
Soil, water, manure, and organic compounds are the four main ingredients for natural fiber. The limitations of cotton’s productivity were known to Dhirubhai. To produce enough fabric to dress the millions, cotton is an expensive material. Affordable clothing was a requirement in India. The synthetic fabrics and inorganic compounds were selected by Dhirubhai.
Even India needed a little flair. Reliance was well-versed in fashion. It had to succeed as a B2C enterprise, which deals directly with consumers. Storytellers and strategy specialists may learn a lot about management from this.
Back in 1983, India emerged victorious at the Prudential Cricket World Cup. England played host to the first three tournaments in 1975, 1979, and 1983. The British worldwide insurance group Prudential, which was founded in 1848, sponsored all three.
Dhirubhai took advantage of the situation and secured the opportunity to sponsor the 1987 Cricket World Cup in India, representing the nation and the world at large. Cricket was Reliance’s way to elegance and substance in its big business-to-consumer venture. The 1987 World Cup was held in Pakistan and India. The final was place on November 8, 1987, at Calcutta’s (now Kolkata) gorgeous Eden Garden.
The Reliance Cricket World Cup was presented to Allan Border, the captain of the victorious Australian side, by Dhirubhai. Border took two wickets while batting superbly. One in particular stands out: he bowled out the English team’s captain, Mike Gatting, who was leading the losing side.
Allan Border’s role in opening Reliance’s door to a borderless globe is significant. Sponsorship of a World Cup ended with the 1987 Reliance tournament. Reliance had come as a business-to-consumer enterprise.
Oil and gas exploration, petrochemicals, refining, telecommunications, retail, and digital services are the company’s main abilities. RIL’s expansion and new product development are the result of Mukesh Ambani‘s forward-thinking leadership.
As a major supplier of energy to India and a major exporter of petrochemicals and refined products, Reliance has carved out a niche for itself on the international stage. It operates one of the biggest and most intricate refineries in the world at its Jamnagar facility.
The telecoms branch of RIL, Reliance Jio Infocomm, changed the game in India’s digital environment by providing affordable, high-speed data. When it comes to connecting to and using digital services, India has never been the same since Jio launched its extensive network coverage and creative products.
Reliance Retail, the retail division of the corporation, operates a large network of stores selling groceries, electronics, clothing, and more in a variety of forms. Its expansion plans and smart acquisitions have made it the undisputed leader in India’s retail industry.
Continue to Climb
From 2002 to 2023, India’s GDP increased sixfold, from $0.5 trillion to $4.11 trillion. The company’s income has increased multiplefold since 2002. During that time, its market capitalization has increased by a factor of ten or more.
Reliance exports petroleum products. With a daily stream capacity of 1.24 million barrels, its Jamnagar refinery is quite capable.
Many well-known brands are owned by Reliance. These include Ajio, Jio Mart, Reliance Trends, Reliance Fresh, Reliance Smart, and Reliance Digital. Many industries have been shaken up by Reliance’s Jio Platforms. Jio has captured more than 34% of the market and attracted 387.5 million members in just four years.
Revenue of Reliance Jio From Financial Year 2019 to 2023
An ode to the public firm that is owned and operated by its owners is Reliance. With a stake of over 45%, the Ambani family controls the majority of the company. As a remedy for “agency costs,” an extremely large internal holding is ideal.
Reliance has integrated management, ownership, leadership, and enterprise. Many American and European companies have long admired its ownership and management style. Ever since Reliance decided to issue its global depository receipts in May 1992, people have been talking about the company’s management and ownership. Institutional shareholders, who are among the most demanding shareholders in the world, have been aware of Reliance’s strengths since 1993. Even though it’s been 31 years, more and more people are jumping on the Reliance bandwagon.
FAQs
What is the telecommunication branch of Reliance Industries?
Reliance Jio Infocomm is the telecommunication branch of Reliance Industries.
Who is the founder of Reliance?
Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, also known as Dhirubhai Ambani founded Reliance Industries.
What was the revenue of Reliance Jio in 2023?
Reliance Jio generated a revenue of INR 1197.91 billion in 2023.
Reliance Jio, we all have been hearing a lot about this company for the past few years. Reliance Jio is a well-structured company whose business model is considered ‘the sweetest data bait.’
Jio has proven itself the icon of international tech and private capital investors. According to estimated data, Jio has raised Rs. 67,194.75 crore from the forthcoming technology investors including Silver Lake, General Atlantic, Facebook, and Vista Equity.
With the vibrant interest of the foreign investors in the Indian market have signed several deals for Reliance Jio. When it comes to the business model of Jio, the company has opted for very cleverish strategies which have resulted in remarkable profits for the company.
Reliance Jio holds a very strong position in the market with an immense customer base. Through this article, we will be discussing the business model of Reliance Jio briefly along with its tremendous marketing strategies. Let’s begin!
Jio is officially termed as Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited which functions as the Indian telecommunications company. Jio was founded by Mukesh Ambani in 2007 as the subsidiary of Reliance Industries.
Reliance Jio, which functions as a subsidiary of Jio platforms and telecommunications services providers has its well-established headquarter in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Alongside the company operates all 22 telecom circles through the National LTE network. Through this, Jio provides the voice service on its 4G network, that too only from the LTE network.
Today, Jio is known as the largest mobile network operator across India and the third-largest in the world. The company has over 42.62 crore subscribers. Recently in 2019, Jio launched its service of fiber to the home, where it offers television, telephone, and home broadband services. As of 2020, Reliance Jio raised its funds by selling around 33% equity stake in Jio Partner, worth Rs. 1.65 lakh crore that is, US$23 billion.
Jio Business Model and the success story
Key Product and Services of Reliance Jio
Reliance Jio Services
Reliance Jio offers tons of amazing services through its fiber-to-the-home services. Its key services include telephone services, television, and home broadband services.
While its key products are Mobile Phones, top-notch internet speed and services, fixed-line telephone, OTT services, and Wireless broadband.
Target Audience of Reliance Jio
Reliance Jio majorly concentrates on the audience who are smartphone users. It provides the service of high-speed internet and great android mobile services. Jio targets the urban and two-tier middle and upper-class people. Jio works towards transforming India into a digital nation.
Jio, being the highest in the market strategizes its business model in a very significant and unique way. It has opted for the formula of ‘Unique Selling Point.’ This basically means Jio offering such unique and advantageous services to their customers that can not be resisted. This can be elaborate as when Jio launched the unlimited offer with a 4G server, people of India weren’t encountered 4G at all. And with such a unique offer, how can someone turn it down? And that’s what benefits the company of Reliance Jio.
Jio offers a broad range of customer-based features and services like high-speed Internet, free voice calls, unlimited texting, and many other. All these are developed to charge money from the customers. Its tariff plans are exclusively built to catch consumers’ eyes.
Jio has offered some very exclusive services to its customers with a fully served 4G network. Jio was the first to bring on the popularity and use of 4G network while other telecom companies were still working with 3G networks. And with this significant approach, Jio builds the biggest loyal customers base. People wanted more things in less price, Jio took the opportunity and provided them that. This unique strategy is what brought Jio where it is now!
What is unique about the business model of Reliance Jio?
Jio has opted for the most powerful and promising business strategies, which has surely brought great benefits and profit to it. Its business model is very simple, yet unique. The most unique thing about Jio is it offers free voice calls to its customers. According to statistics, only 10-15% of the Jio 4G network is used for calling while the other 85-90% is used for data. And when you have this amount of popularity and usage, paying a little price is always worth it. That’s what Jio does!
In this way, it attracts more and more customers to its services and creates a significant marketing buzz with free offerings. In all manner, it’s beneficial for the company.
How does Reliance Jio make money?
Reliance Jio generates its money from two major options- Charging extra per unit and selling more units. And as compared to other telecom companies, Jio sells way more of its units to generate more money.
For those who refer to Jio as a cheap telecom service provider, they are talking about its per-unit cost. But apart from this, the company charges its customers INR 154 for ARPU. And this amount is higher than any other telecom operator company.
So, the Jio customers are actually paying more for the cheap products. Jio does not provide the facility of paying just INR 10 per month as compared to other telecom companies. Jio majorly focuses on generating more money through all its plans.
With its incredible marketing strategy of generating money through Jio tariff plans that come in 4G network brings great profit for the company. Jio follows different pricing options and makes enormous customer deals.
They offer various applications, devices, and fiber services to multiply their revenue. This helps Jio to win numerous business verticals. And with such marketing strategies and development, Jio’s market value and position are unbeatable.
FAQs
What is the revenue of Reliance?
Reliance has a revenue of 7.27 lakh crores INR (US$100 billion, 2021).
On 28th August, it was announced that Bharti Airtel might get an investment of up to thousands of crores from Google. According to sources, Google and Airtel were in talks for over a year and are currently said to be in the advanced stages of negotiations. Airtel is also planning other fundraising options as it had a debt of Rs 1.6 lakh crore in June 2020 because it was unable to raise tariffs freely.
Google had earlier invested over Rs 33,737 crore in Reliance industries digital subsidiary, Jio Platforms Ltd in order to get a stake of over 7.73% in the Jio platforms which is currently the main rival of Airtel. Both Google and Airtel have not made any formal announcements regarding the upcoming deal, but media sources say that Google’s investment in Airtel will be several thousand crores of rupees.
The details of the partnership are being worked up by the executives of both the companies, while their internal and external legal and M&A teams are involved with sorting out the smaller details of the arrangement.
According to one of the Analysts, “The entry of Google adds strength to the balance sheet of Airtel. Also, it helps the company strategically as Google brings in innovation capabilities and strength on data analytics. Google’s data monetization is far superior to any other company in the world, and it can help Airtel monetize its data much better to improve its realizations and profitability.”
The analyst also added that, Google may have big reasons to why it’s investing in Airtel as, “If anything goes wrong tomorrow, your (Google) credibility in the market goes out even though it will be limited liability. To save its name, the company will have to settle its dues in case Airtel is not able to move ahead due to financial pressures and starts slipping down.”
How will this deal benefit Airtel?
If this deal is successful, it will be a major help to Airtel as it is currently facing many problem because of its competitors like Reliance Jio that are providing data at cheaper prices. Jio was the reason behind disrupting the successful financial model of the industry. Other Telecom companies like Vodafone and Idea Cellular were forced to merge because of the stiff competition from Jio.
Google’s investment and data monetization methods have the possibilities to help Airtel to become successful, earn more money and work on its profitability. Airtel is also raising more funds so it can increase the capacity of its 4G networks around India. This investment by Google can also help the telecom company to set a lot of things in order, pay off the debts to the government and also invest in 4G and 5G networks.
In July 2020, Google announced that it had set aside $10 billion funds to invest in the startups of India over the course of five to seven years. The investment was said to be in the form of investments, seed investments, partnerships among other arrangements. This was planned in order to accelerate digitization in India and reduce the gap in the Indian tech investments ecosystem.
This fund was said to be invested in the sectors of consumer tech, education, health, agriculture, technology, AR &VR, and helping SMEs. This fund initiative was called the Google for India Digitization Fund as it aimed in helping Indian companies to grow in their Google portfolio.
This morning, had an extremely fruitful interaction with @sundarpichai. We spoke on a wide range of subjects, particularly leveraging the power of technology to transform the lives of India’s farmers, youngsters and entrepreneurs. pic.twitter.com/IS9W24zZxs
Google has made numerous investments in Indian startups and ventures over the few years. In 2013, Google has invested Rs 3.13 crore in Sana Ventures as a part of a seed round funding and the same year it also invested Rs 3 crore in Agastya International Foundation. After that in 2017, it went on to invest Rs 3 crore in CueMath which is a well-known online Edtech company. In 2020, Google also invested over $27,500,000 in the series E funding of Aye Finance which is a Gurugram based Fintech Company.
It also invested over $12 million in Dunzo an Indian delivery company in 2021. In 2020, Google invested $100 million for DailyHunt and an undisclosed amount in Glance which is both news platforms. The same year’s Google invested over Rs 33,737 crore in Jio Platform which is the digital subsidiary of the conglomerate Reliance Industries. This investment led to Google claiming a 7.73 % stake in Jio Platform and helped Jio clearing its debt ahead of its March 2021 target.
The 44th AGM of Reliance Industries was conducted on 24 June 2021. The company had mentioned certain key points that they undertook during the Coronavirus pandemic such as contributing to oxygen. Reliance boasts of producing 11% of the country’s liquid oxygen that is the highest by any company, gave around 7.5 crore free meals, set up 116 vaccination centers in 109 cities across the country, and also conducted the largest corporate vaccination drive for its employees.
Other than these the Chairman of the company, Mukesh Ambani had also discussed various projects that the company will undertake in the coming future. Let’s look at the projects and the details about them.
One of the major key takeaways from the Annual General Meeting of Reliance is its clean energy business. The company has stated that it would invest around INR 75,000 crore in a new clean and green energy business over the phase of the next 3 years.
Another takeaway is about the partnerships of Jio and the introduction of a new phone under the brand Jio with the collaboration with Google. The company also announced the launch of Jiomart, where it will collaborate with Facebook.
Mukesh Ambani on Green Energy Project at Reliance AGM
On the 44th Annual General Meeting of Reliance the chairman of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani has announced to begin the work on developing a clean energy project which is the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex in Jamnagar, which will be a 5,000 acres project.
The company had announced that it has a target to reach a net-zero carbon company by 2035, where 60% of the revenue that is earned by the company is through hydrocarbon-fueled energy operations, as per the reports of the recent financial year. While compared to other players in the industry 2035 is a relatively shorter time frame where the major players such as BPCL, Royal Dutch shell, and many others commit to reaching the target by 2050.
He said that the company has started working on the Giga Complex, which is expected to be one of the largest renewable energy integrated manufacturing facilities in the entire world. The Giga complex will contain a solar manufacturing unit, battery factory for energy storage, fuel cell making factory, and an electrolyzer unit which will be used to manufacture green hydrogen.
The company also has plans to build for other Giga factories in order to integrate and manufacture all the components that are required by the new energy system, which include solar photovoltaic module factory, energy storage battery factory, fuel cell factory, and electrolyzer factory.
The company is expecting to create an end-to-end renewables energy ecosystem and announced that it would invest around INR 60,000 crores in these 3 initiatives and the rest INR 15,000 crores will be invested into partnerships, future technologies, and value chain, and also upstream and downstream businesses.
Ambani had also conveyed that the company will invest in building two additional divisions to strengthen this ecosystem. There will be a dedicated renewable energy project management and construction division and a dedicated renewable energy project finance division.
Reliance also aims to set up a 100 GW solar energy by the end of the year 2030.
JioPhone Next will be developed through a partnership with Jio and Google and will be released as a Made in India phone. The smartphone will be powered through an optimized version of the Android platform, which will be especially developed for the JioPhone Next.
JioPhone Next
The smartphone will be a 4G enabled smartphone and will enable the users to use the phone in their preferred language. The phone is expected to deliver a great camera quality and even the latest updates on the Android features and the security updates.
JioPhone Next will contain all the major features such as Google Assistant, language translation, automatic read-aloud of screen text, smart camera with augmented reality, and much more. The smartphone is expected to be released in the market during the time of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
The JioPhone Next is considered to be the most affordable 4G phone in the country and the entire world.
The company has plans to make India a 5G-must nation by the introduction of 5G into the country. The company has a 100% homegrown 5G solution where the company can roll out a 5G network in the country through a standalone position.
The Jio 5G solutions have successfully provided over 1GB per second during the trials that were conducted using the 5G network. Ambani has conveyed that the company has received 5G approval from the regulators and also trial spectrum for 5G field trials.
Google Cloud and Jio partnership announcement at Reliance AGM
Mukesh Ambani had announced the partnership of the company with the Google Cloud services in order to power the 5G services and network of Jio. Google will provide an end-to-end cloud offering that will power the automated lifecycle management of Jio’s 5G network and services.
In addition to this, to address the business challenges faced by the industries, both the companies will collaborate to bring a 5G edge computing solution.
The services of Jio’s 5G network, software, and Google cloud’s innovation in AI and ML will be explored in the new sectors such as gaming, healthcare, video entertainment sectors, and education. Jio and Facebook
The company has united the initial stage of JioMart with Facebooks’ WhatsApp and has provided encouraging results and valuable feedback by the company. Currently, the company is working on developing a full new commerce solution that will link the consumers and merchants. All these plans are expected to be implemented and launch over the next few quarters.
Jio and Microsoft partnership announcement at Reliance AGM
The company has also partnered with Microsoft in order to launch a 100 MW capacity of Jio-Azure cloud data centers in two cities of the country – Nagpur, and Jamnagar. The company is currently onboarding a group of customers for testing the product and service.
Over the coming quarters, the company has plans to expand the data center capacity and offering the services to a growing number of SMEs and various other startups.
Conclusion
The main focus of the AGM was on the Green energy Giga factory that will be set up by the Reliance Industries. In the year 2016 the company had launched Jio in order to bridge the gap in the country in relation to the Digital divide and in the year 2021 the company is launching its clean energy business in order to bridge the gap in the green energy division.
FAQ
What is Reliance AGM ?
Reliance AGM is annual general meeting held by Reliance industries where the chairman of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani announces future projects and partnerships of Reliance.
What is the Revenue of Reliance Industries?
The Revenue of Reliance Industries is ₹540,000 crore (US$76 billion) in 2021.
What is net worth of Mukesh Ambani?
The net worth of Mukesh Ambani is 8,490 crores USD as of 2021.
Reliance Industries which is led by Mukesh Ambani has recorded a rise in its profit of up to 35%. Reliance is one of the leading companies in the oil and telecom sector in the country. The telecom sector has been growing under the brand name Jio and had created a disruption in the market at the time of its launch. Let’s look at the financial results of Reliance Industries for the end of the financial year 31 March 2021 and the reason for the rise in profits.
Reliance Industries is an Indian based multinational conglomerate. The company was founded in the year 1973 and has its headquarters located in Mumbai, India. The company provides services across the globe and is the largest publicly traded company in India.
Some of the products and services of Reliance Industries include Petroleum, Natural Gas, Textiles, Petrochemicals, Telecommunications, Retail, Television, Media, Entertainment, Financial services, Music and Software.
Reliance Industries owns a lot of subsidiaries which include Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail, Jio Payments Bank, Reliance Petroleum, Alok Group, Network18 Group, Reliance Foundation and the IPL team Mumbai Indians.
Reliance Industries which is an oil to telecom conglomerate reported a rise in its profit for the end of the year which ended on 31 March 2021 of about 34.7 % increase at INR 53, 739 crores. The company led by Mukesh Ambani had seen a net profit of around INR 39, 880 crores at the end of the previous financial year 2020.
The revenue generated by the company for the FY21 is around INR 5.39 lakh crore which is around 18.3 % lower than INR 6.60 lakh crore. Total income of the company reviewed under the fiscal fell around 20% from INR 6.26 lakh crore to INR 5.03 lakh crore which was recorded at the fiscal which ended on 31 March 2020.
This was conveyed by Reliance Industries on 30 April 2021 during a Regulatory filing. There was also a decline of around 4.6 % in the FY 21 in the Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) of the company which stood at INR 97, 580 crores.
The cash profit for the fiscal under review has seen an increase of around 18.8 % which stood at 79, 828 crores.
The net profit of the company for the March quarter of FY 21 had seen an increase of around 129 % year on year from INR 6, 546 crores to INR 14, 995 crores. The revenue for the quarter had also seen an increase of around 13. 62 % compared to the previous year from 1.52 lakh crore to 1.72 lakh crore for the current year.
The EBITDA of the company during the March quarter of FY21 saw an increase of 1.9 % month on month which was around 26, 602 crores. The cash profit of the company had seen a rise of around 6.5 % for the quarter ended on 31 March 2021 which is INR 22, 746 crores.
Reliance Industries had said that its non-convertible debentures (NCDs) outstanding as of 31 March 2021 were around INR 66,665 crore in which INR 13,351 crores are secured non-convertible debentures.
Reliance further added that the secured non-convertible debentures of the company which is recorded at INR 13,351 crores for the year ended 31 March 2021 are secured through movable properties by the way of its first charge.
Mukesh Ambani who is the chairman of Reliance Industries conveyed that they have seen a vigorous growth in the O2C and retail segment of the business and a strong growth in the Digital Services in their business.
The growth of O2C earnings was supported through the sustained high utilization rates across sites, transportation fuel margins as well as improvement in downstream products deltas. He added that during these challenging times the consumer business of Reliance Industries has proved to be a physical and digital lifeline for the nation.
FAQ
What is the annual profit of Reliance Industries?
The annual profit of Reliance Industries is 1,15,461 CRORE.
How many companies Mukesh Ambani have?
Mukesh Ambani have 7 companies under him.
Is Jio under Reliance Industries?
Yes, Reliance Industries wholly owns subsidiary of Reliance Jio Infocomm.
Conclusion
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has added around 75,000 jobs during the Covid pandemic while ensuring the health and safety of the employees. Reliance Industries also announced a dividend of INR 7 per share.
Esports is a form of sport competition using video games which is often organized into multiplayer video games, particularly between professional players, individually or as team. Esports has managed to take over the market in India mainly because of the growth and promotion done on online streaming platform such as Youtube and Twitch. The word “esports” is getting increasingly popular by the day thanks to the multiplayer online games like PUBG and Fortnite.
The masses still don’t know that the esports industry is more than a decade old and has just shot up in India in the past few years with more developers and investors jumping into the sector. The most common video game genre of esports are multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), first person shooter (FPS), fighting, card games, battle royale and real time strategy (RTS). The popular franchises include League of Legends, Dota and Counter strike.
Although the legitimacy of esports as a true sporting competition remains in question, they have been features alongside traditional sports in events such as Asian games, while even the International Olympic Committee are also discussing their inclusion into the future of Olympic events. In India esports accounted for around 4% of all online gaming users and 9.13% of aggregate revenue out of the overall online gaming market in FY20. The growth in esports prize money pool by 123.3% during 2016-2018 has attracted gaming enthusiasts to become professionals
According to Forbes, India ranks 16th, with a total revenue of $1.17 billion (8,000 crore approx.). Comparatively to, North America is estimated to generate revenues of almost $409 million in the next four years while China known to have largest gaming market in the world, with a total revenue of $37.9 billion (Rs 26.11 lakh crore approx.) in 2018, followed by US, Japan and Korea. This shows there is huge potential in the esports market and India needs to tap into that space.
In 2010, India only had 25 game developers whereas now we have 250 more joining the list every year. Corporate giants like Paytm, Alibaba, Tencent and even Nazara have been investing heavily in the Indian gaming market, which is currently one of the top 5 countries in terms of mobile gaming. Most of the revenue generated in esports is sponsored by companies like Asus, Oppo which have been funding to organize and promote esports competitions in India.
Popular esport events in India
Apart from the local tournaments like PUBG Mobile India Series 2019, for the first time, Mumbai is set to play host to one of the biggest esports gaming event, ESL (Electronic Sports League) which will see Dota 2 players from across the globe compete in the two-day tournament. According to a Forbes report, as of October 31st 2019, 285 players from India had earned $216,761.38 (Rs 1.49 crore) in various esports tournaments and games, ranking India at number 64.
Counter Strike remains the most popular and most played esports in India. Counter Strike was released in 2012. Since 2012 Counter Strike has been India’s most popular esports game. India was not a hub for esports back then. But now Indian esports are being recognized at an international level and getting international investments too. Counter Strike is a multiplayer first-person shooter which pits two teams against each other. Competitors are given the task of eliminating the other while completing separate objectives.
Dota 2
Dota 2 is one of the first esport that comes to mind while talking about India’s most popular esports games. Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena. The two featured teams can have 5 players each. To win Dota 2, each team has to destroy the opposing structure while defending theirs. Players have more than 100 characters to choose from. Each character has unique abilities, playing styles, and attributes.
Esports Market During Covid-19
The paradigm shift in the way Indians consume content and the way people socialize online has acted as a catalyst for man attention economy sectors including online gaming. According to a report by Barc and Nielson the number of smartphone game users per week grew from 60% in pre Covid times to 68% during the lockdown. Similarly the mobile games per user spent went from 151 minutes before covid 19 to 218 minutes after the lockdown.
Esports has a huge potential in the Indian market because of the high youth population. The esport segment has online gaming has witnessed significant growth in India in the past few thanks to proliferation of high end smartphone at affordable prices, as well as the rise of mobile games such as PUBG mobile, Free Fire, Clash of Legends, call of duty Mobile among PC and Console games.
Along with deeper penetration for high speed 4G internet and a rise in the number of online gamers the esports market has all the ingredients for growth. The aggregate revenue of esports startups and companies in India reached $68 Million in FY2020 and is projected to grow by CAGR 36% in the next 3 years, as per Inc42 Plus analysis of 36 companies including Jetsynthesys, Nazara technologies, Usports, Gamerji among others.
India’s online gaming revenue growth to hit inflation point
Role of The Stakeholders
From e-commerce platforms like Flipkart to Asus, high end gaming hardware manufacture s like Asus as each platform play a major role in making sure that budding gamers and professional get the required accessory or hardware. According to Leon Yu, Regional Head for India and South Asia, ASUS, “most gamers these days demand LCDs, mobility of hardware and mostly importantly performance. We have also ensured that affordability and performance is catered to with our new series of ROG gaming laptops, which start at Rs 50,000.”
In terms of affordability and availability, ecommerce platform like flipkart and amazon make sure that customers get the products at a cheaper price. Looking at the market opportunity, even unicorns such as Paytm and Hike have doubled down on games. While Paytm launched Paytm First Games as a multi-game platform, Hike-backed WinZO has also been growing rapidly and has raised plenty of funding in the recent months.
Connectivity is quintessential for the growth of the gaming industry and telecom providers too have been working around the clock to not only provide users with affordable data plans, but also work towards make high-speed data accessible across India. According to Anurag Khurana, Head of Esports, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, “In terms of data availability, Reliance Jio has setup 3,00,000 mobile towers and spread around 3.5 million km of high-speed broadband cables across India in order to improve the connectivity because I feel low latency is key for online gaming.”
Currently there is not much scope for professional gamers in India as the infrastructure and the ecosystem is not ready to support a lucrative livelihood for many. According to Akshat Rathee, “choosing to be a gamer is a risky proposition in India as there is not much scope. However, there are other avenues one can explore in the gaming industry. People can choose a career in game commentary, choose to be an influencer where they can play games and talk about it, or a coder who can write code to build AI for games.”
Data handlers are also a good option where they can track data issues and then the biggest avenue is voice-over artistes as many developers will look to localize game content for Indian gamers. A career in esports or gaming in India can easily earn you anywhere from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh in a month. Since esports doesn’t require any extreme physical strength, it is a gender neutral space. Sasha Hostyn is one of the most successful women in professional esports and recently won the Intel Extreme Masters 2018 tournament, taking home $50,000 (Rs 34.45 lakh).
Rise in Esport Prize Money Pool
As indicated earlier, esports has seen rising participation from Indian players as the prize money across esports tournaments has been on an upward trajectory since 2016. The entry of PUBG Mobile in India was game changing moment as it provided gamers a career option. As per sensor tower data for July 2020, out of PUBG Mobile 734 Mn downloads globally, India was the ranked top in terms of downloads, with 175 Mn installs or 24% market share.
The growth rate of Esports prize money in India
Of course, much of this growth has been in recent years, whereas esports is already a multi-billion dollar business in the US and China. So relatively speaking, India has a long way to go in terms of revenue and income for players, despite outpacing China and the US in terms of downloads. To put in perspective, in 2019, esports tournaments in the US offered over $40 Mn in prize money, while India’s largest tournaments the PUBG Mobile India Series 2020 offered Rs 50 Lakh as total prize money.
Smartphone Penetration
Aside from the internet penetration and demographic fit, esports market in India has been driven by the proliferation of high performance smartphones and increasing presence of gaming related. The number of smartphone users in India grew at a CAGR of 15% during 2015 to 2020. The growing demand for digital services for information, entertainment and communication through apps such as Facebook, Whatsapp and YouTube have led to matured segment like esports.
Esport cafes are not only a way for people to play games without owning the requisite hardware, but this is where the competitive mentality is built through amateur tournaments. India is home to an estimated 350-plus such esports cafes with PC hardware giant NVIDIA announcing plans to expand its gaming footprint in India by adding 100 more cafes. Nemesis Gaming, League of Extraordinary Gamers (LXG) and Circle Gaming are few major esports cafe startups in India.
Rise in Startup Investments
The demand for competitive gaming rises in India, the esports and gaming segment is attracting adequate investor interests. Between 2014 and H1 2020, the total venture capital funding in Indian gaming startups was $448 Mn, according to Inc42 Plus. Among the gaming startups, the top-funded startups are Dream11 with $100 Mn in total funding, followed by Smaaash Entertainment with $82.6 Mn in funding and Nazara Technologies with $79 Mn.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to get into esports in India?
You need to pick one famous game and practice it well. Get as many wins as possible. The best thing to join esport is to join a league or play in an online tournament. The entry fees are very less. It gives you chance to play against high-level players.
Which are the best esports games in India?
Counter Strike, Dota 2, League of Legends, Overwatch are some of the best esports in India.
How esports organizations make money?
Esport organizations make money through content and tournament performance.
Does esports have a future in India?
Esports as an industry has unlimited scope in India. According to the Indian Federation of Sports Gaming, Esports will see rapid growth in the country and reach a cumulative revenue of up to ₹11,900 Crore.
Jio is the largest telecom operator in India and is the third-largest operator in the world. During the year 2020, the company had raised an amount of INR 1,52,056 crores by selling their stake of around 32.97%. This helped the company in coming up with new products and making the services affordable to the consumers.
The company is said to launch its new product JioBook. After years of speculation, it is believed that the product is in the Engineering Validation test stage.
JioBook is a laptop going to be launched by Reliance Jio. Just like any other product of Jio, this laptop is said to be affordable and would attract a lot of customers. As per the speculations the price of the laptop would start from INR 10,000 onwards.
In order to make affordable JioBook laptops in India, the company had partnered with Bluebank Communication Technology which is based in China. Bluebank Communication technology is a well-known software company that develops software for third parties and creates mobile devices. Bluebank has also worked in developing the popular OS used on Jio Phones which is known as KaiOS.
The news of Jio launching the laptop came out in 2018, when Qualcomm announced that it was in talks with Reliance Jio to launch laptops in India that are affordable with cellular connectivity. After that, there were lot of speculations about the launch of the laptop. After years of wait, Jio finally announced that they will be launching their laptops soon in the market.
It has also been said that the price range of the JioBook laptop would differ according to their storage options and different models.
According to the reports JioBook laptop is expected to be an android based laptop by XDA developers. The android operating system UI will be called JioOS. The laptop will run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 chipset with the support of Snapdragon X12.
JioBook laptop is said to support 4G LTE and would have a display of 720P HD. The laptop is said to have a screen resolution of 1366 x 768. It will run on the JioOS.
The JioBook laptop would come with a storage facility of 32/64 GB with an eMMC (embedded Multi-Media Card) 5.1 memory. It is an internal storage card used in portable devices. Apart from all these features, the laptop would have features that include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 2.4 and 5 GHz connectivity, and so on.
The laptop will come with all Jio-apps installed to ensure that JioBook is affordable to consumers.
JioBook laptops would be the most affordable laptop ever introduced in the country. Earlier Jio had introduced JioPhones which disrupted the entire industry. Since the launch of Jio sim in 2016 the company has been trying to come up with affordable products.
In the beginning stages, Jio sims were given for free with free internet access and unlimited calls and now Jio sim has the greatest number of subscribers in the telecom industry. Reliance Jio has the majority market share in the telecom industry with over 35.7% and 404.12 million users.
Telecom Subscriber Market Share
The low-cost JioPhone which was launched later on helped millions of users to shift to 4G from their 2G enabled phones. Reliance Jio provided JioPhones for INR 1,500 with an inbuilt OS system which helped the users use Facebook, Google and a lot of other apps.
According to the reports from Reliance Jio, in just a span of 2 years, they had sold around 70 million JioPhones.
One of the other reasons why consumers choose Jio is its offers provided such as subscriptions to OTT platforms, cashback, etc. Buyers who bought JioPhone early were provided free voice calls and 4G data for a year.
Jio is trying to use the same strategy used in JioPhones and Jio sims with the plans to launch JioBook. The company will try to capture the laptop industry with the launch of its JioBook laptop.
FAQ
What will be the Specs of JioBook laptop?
JioBook laptop will come with a storage facility of 32/64 GB with an eMMC (embedded Multi-Media Card) 5.1 memory, with support of 4G LTE and a display of 720P HD.
What is the expected price of JioBook laptop?
The expected price of JioBook laptop is 10,000.
When will JioBook laptop be launched?
JioBook laptop will may be launched at the Reliance Annual General Meeting likely to be held in July 2021.
Conclusion
Jio has announced a lot of other products which include Jio Glass for video call with the support of holographic. Jio is also planning for an affordable android phones which will be priced at the range of INR 4,000. The android phone will be manufactured with the partnership with Google.
The company has received a lot of funding last year from the biggest companies around the world. This has led Jio to overcome the major hurdles in the Industry making it the leading company in India. JioBook laptops are expected to launch soon. However, there have not been any official announcements regarding the launch of the laptops. The announcement is expected to be during the next Annual General Meeting of the company.
Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate company that is headquartered in Mumbai, India. Reliance owns businesses across India engaged in energy, petrochemicals, textiles, natural resources, retail, and telecommunications. Reliance is one of the most profitable and the largest publicly traded companies in India. The subsidiaries of Reliance Industries is what makes it successful.
It is also known to be the largest company in India as measured by revenue after recently surpassing the government-controlled Indian Oil Corporation. In the year 2020 Reliance Industries became the first Indian company to exceed US$150 billion in the market capitalization after its market capitalization hit ₹11,43,667 crore on the BSE. It is ranked as 8thamong the top 250 Global Energy Companies by Platts as of 2016.
The company is ranked 96th on the Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s biggest corporations as of 2020. Reliance continues to be India’s largest exporter as it accounts for 8% of India’s total merchandise exports with a value of ₹1,47,755 crore and access to markets in 108 countries. 5% of the government of India’s total revenue comes from Reliance’s customs and exercise duty. It is also the highest income tax payer in the private sector in India.
The number of share of Reliance Industries are approximately 310 crores (3.1 billion) and plays a major role in the Reliance industries. The Ambani family only holds 46.32% of the total shares whereas the remaining 53.68% shares are held by public shareholders including FII and corporate bodies. The life Insurance Corporations of India is the largest non-promoter investor in the company with 7.98% shareholding.
Various Operations of Reliance
The companies petrochemical, refining, oil, and gas-related operations form the core of its business other divisions of the company include cloth, retail business, telecommunication, and special economic zone development. In July 2012 Reliance Industries informed that it was going to invest US$1 billion over the next few years in its new aerospace division which will design, develop, manufacture, equipment, and components including aircraft, engine, radars, avionic, and accessories for military and civilian aircraft, helicopters, and aerostats, etc.
Major Subsidiaries of Reliance Industries:
Reliance Group has 158 + subsidiary companies and 7 associate companies. Here are some of the most popular Reliance Industries Subsidiaries:
Jio Platforms Limited
Facts on Jio | Reliance Subsidiaries List
Jio is essentially a technology company that is a majority-owned subsidiary of reliance industries. It is one of the top reliance subsidiary companies lists. It was announced in October 2019 and has all digital initiatives and the telecommunication assets being housed under it. This new subsidiary holds all the digital business assets including Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.
Jio Infocomm in turn holds the Jio connectivity business which includes Mobile, broadband and enterprise, and also the other digital assets. Jio apps are the tech backbone and investment in other tech entities like Haptic, Hathaway, and Den networks among others. In April 2020, reliance announced a strategic investment of ₹43,574 crores by Facebook into the Jio Platform.
This investment translated into a 9.99% equity stake, on a fully diluted basis. Further in May 2020, reliance sold roughly 1.15% stake in Jio Platforms for ₹5,656 crores to the American private equity investor, Silver lake partner. Intel became the 12th company to invest in reliance Jio platform after it invested ₹1,894.50 crores. In July 2020 google announced that it will acquire a 7.7% stake in the Jio platform for ₹33,737 crores.
Reliance Retail is the retail business wing of Reliance Industries. In March 2013, it had 1466 stores in India. It is the largest retailer in India as it includes many brands like Reliance Fresh, Reliance Footprint, Reliance Time Out, Reliance Wellness, Reliance Trends, Reliance Autozone, Reliance Mart, Reliance iStore.
Reliance Home kitchen, Reliance Home Kitchens, Reliance Market (cash n carry), and Reliance Jewels all come under the banner of Reliance Retail brand. Its annual income revenue for the financial year of 2019 was ₹1.62 billion.
Reliance Life Science
This company works around medical, plant, and industrial biotechnology opportunities. It specializes in the manufacturing, branding, and marketing of Reliance Industries products in Biopharmaceuticals, clinical research services, regenerative medicine, molecular medicine, novel therapeutics, biofuels, plant biotechnology, and industrial biotechnology sectors of the medical business industry. Reliance Institute of life science (RILS) was established by Dhirubhai Ambani Foundation as it is an institution offering higher education in various fields of life science and related technologies.
Reliance Logistics
It is a single-window company selling transportation, distribution, warehousing, logistics, and supply chain-related products. Reliance Logistics is an asset-based company with its own fleet and infrastructure. It provides logistics services to Reliance group subsidiaries and outsiders. Merged content from Reliance Logistics to here.
It is a contract research organization (CRO) and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Life Science, specializes in the clinical research services industry. Its clients are primarily pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies.
Reliance Solar
The solar energy subsidiary of Reliance was established to produce and retail solar energy systems primarily to remote and rural areas. It offers a range of products based on solar energy, solar lantern, home lighting systems, street lighting systems, water purification systems, refrigeration systems, and solar air conditioners.
Network 18
Reliance Subsidiary Companies
In the mass media company, it has interests in television, digital platforms, publication, mobile apps, and films. It also operates two joint ventures namely Viacom 18 and History TV18 with Viacom and A+E Network respectively. It also has acquired ETV Network and since renamed its channels under the Colors TV brand.
Relicord
This is a subsidiary for cord blood banking service which is owned by Reliance Life science. It was established in 2002 and has been inspected and accredited by AABB and also has been accorded a license by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Government of India.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited
Previously known as Infotel Broadband, is a broadband service provider which gained 4G licenses for operating across India.
It is an associate company of Reliance Industries. It holds 45.43% of the total shares of Reliance Industries. It mainly engages in the business of setting up and operating industrial infrastructure. The company is also engaged in related activities involving leasing and providing services connected with computer software and data processing.
The company set up a 200-millimeter diameter twin pipeline system that connects the Bharat petroleum refinery at Mahul, Maharashtra. The infrastructure company constructed a 71,000-kilolitre petrochemical product storage and distribution terminal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) Area in Maharashtra.
Reliance Eros Productions LLP
Has a joint venture with Eros International to produce film content in India.
LYF
It is a well-known 4G enabled Volte device brand from Reliance Retail. It is one of a Jio reliance subsidiaries, the consumer electronics arm of Reliance Industries Limited.
How many subsidiaries does Reliance have or how many subsidiaries of reliance?
Reliance Group has six listed companies.
Is Jio a subsidiary of Reliance?
Jio Platforms Ltd is an Indian technology company and a subsidiaryofReliance Industries Limited. Established in 2019, the company owns India’s largest mobile network operator Jio and other digital businesses of Reliance.
What companies does reliance own?
Reliance Subsidiaries or subsidiary companies of reliance:
Reliance Communications Limited.
Reliance Infrastructure Limited.
Reliance Entertainment.
Reliance Power.
Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital.
Is reliance a multinational company?
Reliance Industries Limited(RIL) is an Indian multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Reliance owns businesses across India engaged in energy, petrochemicals, textiles, natural resources, retail, and telecommunications.
How many branches of reliance company?
RelianceRetail is the retail business wing of Reliance Industries. In March 2013, it had 1466 stores in India. It is the largest retailer in India.
Telecom giant Reliance Jio announced the launch of a new web browser, called JioPages that has been conceptualised and designed entirely in India, giving a major boost to the company’s digital presence. The company claims that privacy is at the core of the browser.
“Built on a powerful Chromium Blink engine, JioPages provides enhanced browsing experience through faster engine migration, webpage rendering, faster page loads, efficient media streaming, Emoji domain support and encrypted connection,” Jio said in a statement.
JioPages has been designed with India centric features such as:
Support for eight Indian languages
JioPages support eight Indian languages such as: Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Bengali. It also provides the users the option of customising the content feed according to their preferred state. Upon selecting a state, the popular sites of the state start appearing on the screen.
Localised news content curation
The content feed of the browser is specially cutomised to suit the user’s preference in terms of language, topic and region. In addition to this, the browser sends notifications only on topics that are either important or of interest to the user.
The file types such as images, video, document or pages are automatically categorised in the JioPages browser which makes the file management easier for the user.
Incognito browsing
JioPages also enables private browsing through Incognito mode by preventing browsing history from being stored in the system. The user has the option of setting a four-digit security PIN or fingerprint as an access code to the Incognito mode in the JioPages browser.
Ad Blocker
The browser provides the user seamless browsing experience by blocking unsolicited advertisements and popups. It will also allow users to whitelist domains to show advertisements.
Personalised home screen
JioPages allows the users to have the option of setting any of the leading search engines in the market such as Google, Bing, MSN, Yahoo or Duck Duck Go, as their default search engine. Users can also pin the links of their favourite websites on the home screen for easy and haste access.
Users can choose from diferent categories of colourful background themes to enhance browsing experience. They could also switch to ‘Dark mode’ for an eye-friendly viewing experience at night.
Informative cards
Another feature of the JioPages browser is that is provides informative cards. An Informative Card captures key numbers, trends, symbols or headlines of a given topic, for e.g. stock market trends, commodity prices or cricket score, and displays them as compact clickable banners on the screen.
The JioPages browser also supports eight Indian languages including Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Bengali and is available for download on the Google Play Store. Also, the company has not announced the launch of iOS variant of JioPages browser as of now.
Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Opera Software, Adobe Systems, Intel, IBM, Samsung and others have contributed in the development of the Chromium Blink engine.
How to download JioPages browser:
JioPages browser can be downloaded from the Google PlayStore and is currently available only on Android smartphones.
Recently, Reliance Jio also announced that is working with Qualcomm Inc. to develop 5G solutions and accelerate efforts to bring the high-speed network to the world’s No. 2 mobile market by users.
Jio Platforms have also raised ₹1.52 trillion from investors such as Google, Inc. and Facebook in just four months this year to achieve its digital goals. Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of Qualcomm Incorporated, has also invested ₹730 crore in Jio Platforms for a 0.15 % stake.
Jio was launched in India four years ago, offering free calls and cheap data. Now, it is India biggest carrier with about 400 million users.
The company is planning to introduce an inexpensive 5G smartphone that would eventually cost less than $40, Press Trust of India reported, citing an official statement.
Ipsita Acharya
